Work Orders
Powoflow's Work Order module provides a complete maintenance management system. Create work orders, assign technicians, track tasks and costs, capture failure data per ISO 14224, and monitor maintenance KPIs — all from a single unified interface.
Work Order Lifecycle
Every work order follows a defined state machine. Status transitions are enforced by the backend — invalid transitions are rejected automatically.
open → awaiting_approval → in_progress → on_hold → complete
↘ cancelled
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Open | Newly created, not yet submitted for approval |
| Awaiting Approval | Submitted and waiting for a supervisor or manager to approve |
| In Progress | Approved and actively being worked on |
| On Hold | Temporarily paused — requires a reason |
| Complete | All tasks finished, work order closed out |
| Cancelled | Abandoned — requires a reason |
Hold and Cancel both require a reason field. The system will reject the transition if no reason is provided.
Status Actions
| Action | From Status | To Status | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Request Approval | Open | Awaiting Approval | — |
| Approve | Awaiting Approval | In Progress | Approver permission |
| Hold | In Progress | On Hold | reason field |
| Resume | On Hold | In Progress | — |
| Complete | In Progress | Complete | — |
| Cancel | Any (except Complete) | Cancelled | reason field |
| Reopen | Complete, Cancelled | Open | — |
Work Order Numbering
Powoflow uses atomic numbering to ensure every work order and maintenance request gets a unique, sequential identifier. Numbers are never reused, even if a work order is deleted.
| Type | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Work Order | WO-YYYY-NNNN | WO-2026-0042 |
| Maintenance Request | REQ-YYYY-NNNN | REQ-2026-0015 |
The counter resets each calendar year. The four-digit sequence number supports up to 9,999 work orders per year.
Work Order Detail Tabs
When you open a work order, you'll see a tabbed interface with nine sections. Each tab provides a focused view of a different aspect of the work order.
Overview
The Overview tab shows the core work order information:
- WO Number — auto-generated identifier (e.g., WO-2026-0042)
- Status — current lifecycle state with color-coded badge
- Priority — Critical, High, Medium, Low, or None
- Asset — the equipment or resource this work order applies to
- Description — free-text description of the work to be performed
- Due Date — target completion date
- Category — maintenance type (corrective, preventive, predictive, etc.)
Tasks
The Tasks tab lets you define the specific steps technicians must complete. Powoflow supports 8 task types, each with its own input and validation:
| Task Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
task | Simple checkbox — mark done or not done | "Inspect belt tension" |
text | Free-text response | "Describe any visible damage" |
number | Numeric input with optional unit | "Torque reading (Nm)" |
reading | Sensor or meter reading capture | "Record oil pressure gauge" |
multiple_choice | Select from predefined options | "Condition: Good / Fair / Poor" |
pass_fail | Binary pass or fail result | "Insulation resistance test" |
photo_capture | Camera capture or image upload | "Photo of nameplate" |
range_check | Numeric input validated against min/max range | "Temperature 60–80 °C" |
Use range_check tasks for measurements that must fall within acceptable limits. The system will flag out-of-range values automatically.
Assignments
Assign one or more technicians to the work order. Each assignment tracks:
- Assigned user
- Assignment date
- Role or specialty (optional)
You can add or remove assignments at any time while the work order is open or in progress.
Time Tracking
Log labor hours against the work order. Each time entry includes:
- Technician name
- Start and end time
- Duration (auto-calculated)
- Notes
The system compares estimated hours (set at creation) against actual hours (sum of time entries) so you can track schedule variance.
Costs
Track three categories of cost against each work order:
| Cost Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Labor | Calculated from time entries and labor rates |
| Material | Parts and consumables used |
| Equipment | Tool or equipment rental charges |
Checklists
Attach reusable checklist templates to the work order. Checklists use the same 8 task types as work order tasks and can be shared across multiple work orders. See Checklist Templates below.
Comments
A threaded discussion area for collaboration. Anyone with access can post comments to discuss the work.
The comment field is called message in the API. If you're building integrations, use message — not body.
Signatures
Capture digital signatures for sign-off. Typical uses include:
- Technician completion signature
- Supervisor approval signature
- Safety sign-off
History
A full audit trail of every change made to the work order — status transitions, field edits, task completions, and assignment changes. Each entry records who made the change and when.
ISO 14224 Failure Coding
For corrective maintenance, Powoflow supports structured failure coding per the ISO 14224 standard. This data powers reliability analytics and root cause trending.
| Field | Description | Example Values |
|---|---|---|
| Detection Method | How the failure was discovered | Visual inspection, Alarm, Operator report, Condition monitoring |
| Failure Mode | The observable symptom | Leaking, Overheating, Vibration, Noise, Failure to start |
| Failure Mechanism | The physical process that caused the failure | Corrosion, Fatigue, Erosion, Wear, Blockage |
| Failure Cause | The root cause category | Design error, Manufacturing defect, Operating error, Wear and tear |
Consistent failure coding across your fleet enables powerful trending. Even partial coding (e.g., just failure mode and cause) is valuable for analytics.
Maintenance Requests
Maintenance Requests provide a simplified submission form for end users — operators, site personnel, or anyone who needs to report an issue without creating a full work order.
- Assigned a
REQ-YYYY-NNNNnumber - Submitter describes the issue and selects the affected asset
- A maintenance manager reviews and can convert the request into a full work order
- Request status is tracked independently
PM Schedules
Preventive Maintenance (PM) Schedules automate recurring work order creation based on time or meter readings.
Recurrence Types
| Type | Trigger | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Time-based | Calendar interval | Every 30 days, every 3 months, annually |
| Meter-based | Equipment runtime or usage counter | Every 500 running hours, every 10,000 km |
Each PM Schedule defines:
- Template work order — tasks, assignments, checklists, and parts to include
- Recurrence rule — interval and trigger type
- Lead time — how far in advance to generate the work order
- Asset scope — which assets the schedule applies to
When a PM Schedule triggers, the system automatically creates a new work order with all template data pre-filled, including tasks, assignments, and reserved parts.
Checklist Templates
Checklist Templates are reusable task lists that can be attached to work orders, assets, inspections, or schedules. They use the same 8 task types described in the Tasks section above.
- Create templates once, reuse across many work orders
- Each checklist instance tracks completion independently
- Scoped by
parentType:work_order,asset,inspection,schedule
Parts Planning
Reserve inventory parts for upcoming work before the technician arrives on site.
- Plan — select parts and quantities from inventory while creating or editing the work order
- Reserve — parts are reserved (status changes to RESERVED), reducing available stock
- Consume — when the work is completed, reserved parts are consumed (status changes to CONSUMED)
Reserving parts reduces available stock immediately. If the work order is cancelled, reserved parts must be manually returned to stock.
For serialized parts (tracking mode: serialized or asset), individual serial numbers are tracked through the reservation and consumption process.
KPI Dashboard
The Work Orders module includes a KPI dashboard that provides at-a-glance metrics for your maintenance operation.
Work Order Counts
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Total WOs | All work orders in the selected period |
| Open | Not yet submitted for approval |
| Awaiting Approval | Pending supervisor review |
| In Progress | Actively being worked |
| On Hold | Temporarily paused |
| Complete | Successfully closed |
| Cancelled | Abandoned |
Maintenance KPIs
| KPI | Description | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| MTBF | Mean Time Between Failures | Total uptime / Number of failures |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Repair | Total repair time / Number of repairs |
| Availability | Equipment operational availability | Uptime / (Uptime + Downtime) |
| PM Compliance | Percentage of PMs completed on schedule | Completed PMs / Scheduled PMs |
| Fleet Health | Overall fleet condition score | Weighted composite of asset health indicators |
Use the date range selector to compare KPI trends across periods. Tracking MTBF and PM Compliance together is a strong indicator of whether your preventive maintenance program is effective.